AstroFood – Learning about edible plants in Space

Brief description:

In this set of activities, students will learn about the different components of plants.

They will learn which parts of plants are edible and learn the difference between a vegetable, a fruit and a seed.

The students will have to imagine and draw the plant associated with the fruit/vegetable/seed they are observing.

They will also learn that different plants require different growth conditions and will give different yields. Based on this they will consider which plants are suitable for growing in space as a good source of nutrition for astronauts.

Subject: Science

Learning Objectives

Learn about the basic structure of common plants.

Identify and name a set of different plants.

Understand that living things can be grouped in a variety of ways.

Identify that humans need the right types and amount of nutrition, and get this from what they eat.

Understand that living things depend on each other and that plants serve as a source of food.

Develop skills in identifying, classifying and grouping.

Recognise that questions can be answered in different ways.

Understand that drawing can be used to develop and share their ideas.

Age range:

6 – 10 years old

Time

Lesson: 60 minutes

Resource available in:

English, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Romanian, Hungarian, Estonian and Greek

Activity 1: Gather your AstroFood

In this activity, students will learn to identify different edible plant parts. Using pictures or assorted samples they will have to recognise the differences between fruits, seeds and vegetables and group them accordingly.

Equipment

Student worksheet printed for each pupil.

Pen/pencil

Assorted fruits, vegetables and seeds (optional)

Activity 2: Draw your AstroFood

In this activity, students will imagine and draw the complete plant associated with one of the images from Activity 1. They should consider the characteristics of the plant and if it would be a good candidate for space by taking into account its size.

Equipment

Paper

Student worksheet printed for each student

Colouring pencils or colouring pens

Internet access (optional)

Activity 3: AstroFood Olympics

In this activity, students will select their top three candidate plants for growing in space. The students will learn that factors such as size, growth time, yield and nutritional value are important when choosing what plants to grow.

Equipment

Scissors

Glue

Student worksheet printed for each student

Colouring pencils (optional)

Did you know?

There are more than three hundred thousand (300,000) identified plant species on Earth and the list is growing all the time!

Humans use around two thousand (2,000) different types of plants from all over the world to produce food! Do you know where all the grocieries in the supermarket come from?